Nepostel, the consultancy and training wing of the Royal PTT (Posts & Telecommunications) of Netherlands, has set up a joint venture, Neopostal India, with an India-based software company, Svana Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Nepostel, which has a presence in over 50 countries world-wide, will be dedicated to postal and telecom services. The company’s emphasis is on tailor-made activities which can enhance and have a positive impact on the business performance of its customers. The focus of the organisation will be to offer services that strengthen the core competencies of client companies and to contribute to the telecom environment in India.

Nepostel India is oriented towards improving business practices in the telecom sector and has the advantage of relying on the vast expertise base of Nepostel, Netherlands. Nepostel India has also joined hands with Swedtel of Sweden recently for their practical hands-on telecom experience. Hence, the expertise of two of the most efficient and profitable telecom companies in Europe, PTT Telecom of Netherlands and Telia of Sweden, is now easily available in India. It will also extend its expertise in feasibility studies, network design, consultancy for bid evaluation in a telecom tender and buying decision for network equipment.

Six leading Asian IT companies have teamed up to form a consortium aimed at combining their expertise in an effort to come up with breakthrough innovations. The key focus of the 'Eutech-Asia Software Consortium' is on systems integration and project management.

Launched in Singapore in October 1996, the consortium has Eutech Cybernetics, a Singapore firm that has real time software and sensor technology as some of its core competencies. The other five members of the consortium are all from India : Microland, Infosys Technologies, Macmet India, Ashok Leyland and BFL Software.

The consortium's first initiative is its endorsement of the Eutech architecture, which is a framework for building enterprise system and facilitates the shift from mainframe computing to enterprise computing by using client/server technology based on open standards. The consortium hopes to make the architecture a truly Asian innovation with world-wide implication by leveraging fully on the Indian software industry.

The consortium hopes to get the support of major IT players, such as, IBM, HP, AT&T and Sun Microsystems, some of whom are already working with Eutech Cybernetics on various projects. Another plan of the consortium is the establishment of an OLE conversion centre in Bangalore.

Dun and Bradstreet Satyam Software (DBSS), a joint-venture between the US-based Dun & Bradstreet Inc. and Satyam Computer Services Ltd., Hderabad, has tied up with two of the six big consultancy firms in the US, Coopers and Lybrand and Computer Science Corporation (CSC), to offer the 'Year 2000' solutions.

In its first two years of existence, DBSS focused on providing the solutions for companies within the D&B family. At the beginning of the third year, it was decided to approach customers of the D&B group directly. The senior manager, DBSS described the ventures with CSC and Coopers and Lybrand as strategic alliances. He said that they were part of a large corporate strategy to identify clients outside of the Dun and Bradstreet group of companies worldwide.

The company has advertised its Year 2000 solutions on its home page on the Worldwide Web. Potential customers can try out the company’s offer of a free problem analysis at the site. DBSS will then outline a strategy of how it will deal with the problem. A rough cost estimate will also be provided.

DBSS has decided to focus specifically on companies on the Asia - Pacific region, such as the LG group of South Korea and EDSC of Thailand. Currently the bulk of revenues, about 90%, comes from the US, followed by 8% from Europe.

Following the restructuring of the D&B Corporation into three companies focusing on specific areas, DBSS has been grouped under the Cognizant Corporation's umbrella. This group mainly bands together companies in the high growth information markets such as Nielsen Media Research and IMS International, which supplies marketing information to pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.

The other two companies are : the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, which now includes group companies in financial information services, such as, Moody’s Investor Services, and A.C. Nielsen which incorporates all companies in consumer product information services.

Usha (India) Ltd ., the flagship company of Usha Group, has entered into a 50:50 joint venture with GEC Plessey Semiconductors (GPS), a part of the $ 16 billion General Electric Company of USA, to design and develop integrated circuits and related software. The initial investment is expected to be over $1 million with an expected turnover of over $2 million in the first two years. The site for the project will be in Bangalore.

The joint venture will work on ASIC library development and the development of embedded DSP and RISC processor systems and design methodologies. The company will also undertake algorithm development for embedded DSP processors in communication applications. The work will also include analog cell design, digital macrocell development, the development of design methodologies for deep sub-micron design, and designing routes for mixed signal systems on silicon.